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Will Penelope Pierogie live happily ever after with her Red Neck Stud? Will the Corndog brothers get away with stealing a diamond-encrusted toilet seat?

Find out this weekend as “A Red Neck Pierogie Wedding at Foodington Abbey” brightens up bazaar time this weekend at St. John the Baptist Church on Nesbitt Street in Larksville.

The Rev. Gerald Gurka wrote his fifth installment of the “Pierogie Wedding” series for this year’s annual parish picnic. The play, which includes audience participation, kicks off the last day of the summer festival at 2 p.m. Sunday.

“They’re all a sequel to each other, but this one is a sequel to last year’s,” the Rev. Gurka said. “But even if you didn’t see it, this one can stand independently.”

The first “Pierogie Wedding” happened in 2010, revolving around the families of the Potato and Cabbage Kingdoms and a couple “Romeo and Juliet”-style starcrossed lovers. Since then, the Rev. Gurka’s embroidered more characters and introduced new themes to the yearly parody play that takes place in the “interfoodal universe.”

It all started that first year, when the idea came up during a planning session with the annual picnic volunteers, the Rev. Gurka said.

“They said, ‘Why don’t you do a ‘Pierogie Wedding?’” the Rev. Gurka said.

He accepted the challenge, and the one-of-a-kind production has been a rollicking must-see ever since. They even put together a soundtrack and design props to bring the story to life, the Rev. Gurka said — “And we do a live tractor,” he laughed.

Lucy Singer plays Penelope Pierogie, a wealthy resident of Lardsville Mountain who makes her entrance riding in the cart of the Red Neck Stud’s tractor. During rehearsal on a warm summer evening, the Rev. Gurka directs her to smile and wave as she arrives — masking the heartache she’s been through.

“Everything is going wrong for her because her fiance cheated with Frieda Fettuccine,” the Rev. Gurka said.

Singer’s husband, Scott, plays television star Stefan the Sausage King, “and he’s doing a great job,” the Rev. Gurka said. So is Lucy — she’s a chameleon who “adapts to any role.”

As a fan of the television series “Downton Abbey,” the Rev. Gurka decided to work in some high-class English characters to mix with the country bumpkins featured in past productions.

About 30 parishioners take part in the production — several actors who take care of the actions, while others provide the voices and read the lines. That way, more people can take part, the Rev. Gurka said.

Violet Rasmovicz will read the lines for Fullgencia Foodington as Mary Sincavage acts out the Dowager Countess’ snobbish ways. The character is based on Maggie Smith’s role as Violet Crowley on ‘Downton Abbey.’

“(The Rev. Gurka) told me this morning — ‘Can you do it hoity-toity and with an English accent?’” Rasmovicz said, recalling an earlier rehearsal. “We laughed through the whole thing.”

Returning characters include Rufus and Roscoe, the Corndog brothers who hatch a plan to steal the countess’ diamond-encrusted toilet seat. Stephen Sincavage and Dan Flannery play the two rascals in a plot that calls back to last year’s production.

“They were playing toss with the toilet seats,” said Leonard Brozena, who narrates as the master storyteller. “That was last year’s caper.”

The audience gets involved as well. As the play goes on, Marie Herbert holds up signs with phrases for the crowd to shout out, like “Give us a break!” or “You lyin’ Corndogs!”

The Rev. Gurka, who studied playwriting and received a Master of Arts degree from Wilkes University, leads his parishioners in productions during Christmas and Easter. He uses innovative themes in all his works, grounding the stories in solid morals within creative circumstances.

“We have so much fun,” he said.

What keeps the parishioners coming back to act in each production? That’s easy, said Scott Singer.

“Father Gerry,” he said, pointing to the priest’s creativity and excitement for getting everyone involved — how can anyone resist? “Everybody does it because of Father Gerry.”

For example, said Scott Singer, last Easter the parish staged “Satan’s Loss,” which revolved around a chess game between God and the devil. As the game goes on, it encompasses many biblical events like the flood and Christ’s resurrection.

For parishioners like Bernice May, the fun’s also in finding out what the Rev. Gurka will think of in the future.

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